Despite substantial efforts to treat and prevent thrombotic events, arterial thrombosis continues to be the major cause of death in adult populations of developed nations. Although numerous medical strategies exist for treating thrombosis, no available agent meets the therapeutic endpoints of both bioavailability and efficacy, while also having a reasonable safety profile (see Feuerstein et al. (1999) Arterioscler. Thromb. Vasc. Biol. 19:2554-2562).
Under normal circumstances, an injury to vascular endothelial cells lining a blood vessel triggers a hemostatic response through a sequence of events commonly referred to as the coagulation “cascade.” The cascade culminates in the conversion of soluble fibrinogen to insoluble fibrin which, together with platelets, forms a localized clot or thrombus which prevents extravascular release of blood components. Wound healing can then occur followed by clot dissolution and restoration of blood vessel integrity and flow.
Initiation of blood coagulation arises from two distinct pathways: the intrinsic and extrinsic pathways. The intrinsic pathway can be triggered in vitro by contact of blood borne factors with artificial negatively charged surfaces such as glass. In contrast, the extrinsic pathway can be initiated in vivo or in vitro when tissue factor (TF), normally sequestered from the circulatory system, comes into contact with blood after injury. Blood exposed TF acts as a cofactor for the factor VIIa (“FVIIa”) catalyzed activation of factor IX (“FIX”) and factor X (“FX”). This leads to rapid formation of FXa and thrombin, which subsequently polymerizes to form the fibrin clot. Both the intrinsic and extrinsic pathways are characterized by the assembly of multiple protein complexes on procoagulant surfaces, which localizes the response to the site of injury (see Mann, K. G. et al. (1990) Blood 76:1).
Anticoagulant Therapy
Coumarin drugs, such as warfarin as well as the glycosaminoglycans, heparin and heparan sulfate, are commonly used as anticoagulants. Warfarin, a coumarin derivative, acts by competing with vitamin K dependent post-translational modification of prothrombin and other vitamin K-dependent clotting factors. Its action is somewhat slower and longer lasting than heparin. The coumarin drugs inhibit coagulation by inhibiting the vitamin K-dependent carboxylation reactions necessary to the function of thrombin, and factors VII, IX, and X as well as proteins C and S. These drugs act by inhibiting the reduction of the quinone derivatives of vitamin K to their active hydroquinone forms. Because of the mode of action of coumarin drugs, it takes several days for their maximum effect to be realized. Heparin binds to, and activates, antithrombin III which then inhibits the serine proteases of the coagulation cascade. In part due to their potency, heparin and LMW heparin suffer drawbacks. Uncontrolled bleeding is a major complication observed in up to 7% of patients receiving continuous infusion up to 14% of patients given intermittent bolus doses. The therapeutic range to achieve efficacy without placing the patient at risk for bleeding is narrow, approximately 1 to less than 3 ug heparin/ml plasma. At concentrations greater than 4 ug/ml of heparin, clotting activity is not detectable. Thus, great care must be taken to keep the patient's plasma concentrations within the therapeutic range.
Groups have used antibodies to coagulation factors to regulate the coagulation cascade. For example PCT Publication No. WO 03/093422 to Schering Aktiengesellschaft discloses antibodies that bind with greater affinity to the factor VIIa/tissue factor (FVIIa/TF) complex than to tissue factor (TF) alone. These antibodies allegedly do not compete for binding to tissue factor with Factor VII and Factor X, and inhibit FX activation.
U.S. Pat. No. 6,001,820 to Hamilton Civic Hospitals Research Development Inc. provides heparin cofactor II specific catalytic agents which are capable of (1) selectively inactivating thrombin which is bound either to fibrin in a clot or to some other surface, but which has only minimal inhibitory activity against free thrombin; (2) inhibiting the assembly of the intrinsic tenase complex and thereby the activation of Factor X by Factor IXa; and (3) inhibiting the activation of Factor IX by Factor XIa.
Aptamers
Nucleic acids have conventionally been thought of as primarily playing an informational role in biological processes. In the past decade it has become clear that the three dimensional structure of nucleic acids can give them the capacity to interact with and regulate proteins. Such nucleic acid ligands or “aptamers” are short DNA or RNA oligomers which can bind to a given ligand with high affinity and specificity. As a class, the three dimensional structures of aptamers are sufficiently variable to allow aptamers to bind to and act as ligands for virtually any chemical compound, whether monomeric or polymeric. Aptamers have emerged as promising new diagnostic and therapeutic compounds, particularly in cancer therapy and the regulation of blood coagulation.
Nucleic acid ligands can be identified through methods related to a method termed the Systematic Evolution of Ligands by EXponential enrichment (SELEX). SELEX involves selection of protein-binding nucleic acids from a mixture of candidate oligonucleotides and step-wise iterations of binding, partitioning and amplification to achieve the desired criterion of binding affinity and selectivity. The SELEX process was first described by Gold and Tuerk in U.S. Pat. No. 5,475,096, and thereafter in U.S. Pat. No. 5,270,163 (see also WO 91/19813; Tuerk et al. (1990) Science 249:505-10).
A number of third parties have applied for and secured patents covering the identification, manufacture and use of aptamers. As stated above, Gold and Tuerk are generally credited with first developing the SELEX method for isolating aptamers, and their method is described in a number of United States patents including U.S. Pat. Nos. 5,670,637, 5,696,249, 5,843,653, 6,110,900, and 5,270,163. Thomas Bruice et al. reported a process for producing aptamers in U.S. Pat. No. 5,686,242, which differs from the original SELEX process reported by Tuerk and Gold because it employs strictly random oligonucleotides during the screening sequence. The oligonucleotides screened in the '242 patent lack the oligonucleotide primers that are present in oligonucleotides screened in the SELEX process.
Several patents to Gold et al. contain claims covering aptamers to thrombin. For example, U.S. Pat. No. 5,670,637 contains claims covering aptamers that bind to proteins. U.S. Pat. No. 5,696,249 claims an aptamer produced by the SELEX process. U.S. Pat. Nos. 5,756,291 and 5,582,981 to O'Toole, disclose and claim a method for detecting thrombin using a labeled aptamer that comprises a defined six nucleotide sequence. U.S. Pat. Nos. 5,476,766 and 6,177,557 disclose compounds and methods to identify nuclei acid ligand solutions to thrombin using SELEX.
Sullenger, Rusconi, Kontos and White in WO 02/26932 describe RNA aptamers that bind to coagulation factors, E2F family transcription factors, Ang1, Ang2, and fragments or peptides thereof, transcription factors, autoimmune antibodies and cell surface receptors useful in the modulation of hemostasis and other biologic events. See also Rusconi et al, Thrombosis and Haemostasis 83:841-848 (2000), White et al, J. Clin Invest 106:929-34 (2000), Ishizaki et al, Nat Med 2:1386-1389 (1996), and Lee et al, Nat. Biotechnol. 15:41-45 (1997)).
Modulation of Aptamers
PCT Publication No. WO 02/096926 to Duke University describes agents and methods to modulate the biological activity of nucleic acid ligands through the administration of a modulator. The publication describes aptamers controlled by modulators that can be nucleic acids. The modulatable aptamers are described as being useful in the treatment of diseases in which it is important to inhibit coagulation, elongation factor 2 activity or angiogenesis. The modulatable aptamers to control coagulation include the aptamers to coagulation factors VII or VIIa, VIII or VIIIa, IX or IXa, V or Va, X or Xa, complexes formed with these factors, as well as platelet receptors. The modulator can change the binding of the nucleic acid ligand for its target, degrade or otherwise cleave, metabolize or break down the nucleic acid ligand while the ligand is exerting its effect. Modulators can be administered in real time as needed based on various factors, including the progress of the patient, as well as the physician's discretion in how to achieve optimal therapy.
Maximizing Utility of Aptamers
In order for aptamers to be useful therapeutic reagents, they should bind tightly to proteins, inhibit a specified function of that protein if an antagonist is desired and have no harmful side-effects. Unmodified RNA is not realistically used as a therapeutic agent since blood is rich in ribonucleases. Some modification of single-stranded RNA and DNA can produce molecules which are stable in blood and certain known aptamers have 2′F or 2′NH2 groups within each pyrimidine nucleotide.
However, there is no way to predict how a particular modification changes aptamers. In particular, when additional limitations are required, as is the case with modulatable aptamers, no techniques exist to predict how one or more modifications can affect the capacity of the aptamer to regulate its ligands and at the same time continue to be regulated by antidote binding.
The successful use of aptamers as therapeutic agents depends not only on their efficacy and specificity, but also on economics. Extrapolating from the most successful animal experiments of currently available aptamers, an aptamer dose of 1-2 mg/kg body wt is usually an effective dose (derived from experiments on aptamers inhibiting VEGF, PDGF, L-selectin, and P-selectin). For a 70-kg adult, this means that each injected dose would be 70-140 mg. For acute indications, such as organ transplant, myocardial infarcts, toxic or septic shock, angioplasty, or pulmonary embolism treatment every 3 days for 15 days would involve $700-$1400 in cost of goods. Clearly, for chronic indications, the cost of the goods is an issue. There is thus a need to reduce the cost of manufacturing of aptamers.
Several methods have been developed that modify the base SELEX process to obtain modified aptamers. For example, patents disclose the use of modified nucleotides in the SELEX process to obtain aptamers that exhibit improved properties. U.S. Pat. No. 5,660,985 provides 2′-modified nucleotides that allegedly display enhanced in vivo stability. U.S. Pat. No. 6,083,696 discloses a “blended” SELEX process in which oligonucleotides covalently linked to non-nucleic acid functional units are screened for their capacity to bind a target molecule. Other patents describe post-SELEX modifications to aptamers to decrease their size, increase their stability, or increase target binding affinity (see, e.g., U.S. Pat. Nos. 5,817,785 and 5,648,214).
In U.S. Pat. No. 5,245,022 Weis et al. disclose an oligonucleotide of about 12-25 bases that is terminally substituted by a polyalkyleneglycol. These modified oligonucleotides are reported to be resistant to exonuclease activity.
U.S. Pat. Nos. 5,670,633 and 6,005,087 to Cook et al. describe thermally stable 2′-fluoro oligonucleotides that are complementary to an RNA or DNA base sequence. U.S. Pat. Nos. 6,222,025 and 5,760,202 to Cook et al. describe the synthesis of 2′-O substituted pyrimidines and oligomers containing the modified pyrimidines. EP 0 593 901 B1 discloses oligonucleotide and ribozyme analogues with terminal 3′,3′- and 5′,5′-nucleoside bonds. U.S. Pat. No. 6,011,020 to Gold et al. discloses and claims an aptamer modified by polyethylene glycol.
Currently, a strong need remains to provide methods and compositions to treat patients in need of anticoagulant therapy, and in particular, during surgery or other medical intervention.
Therefore, it is an object of the present invention to provide methods and compositions to treat patients in need of anticoagulant therapy, and in particular, during surgery or other medical intervention
It is another object of the present invention to provide more control over the therapeutic effect, pharmacokinetics and duration of activity of anticoagulant therapies.